12 principles of animation

When applied, it gives your animated characters and objects the illusion of gravity, weight, mass and flexibility.

• Squash and stretch

• Staging

• Appeal

When applied, it has the effect of making the object's action more realistic. Helps to prepare the viewer for what's about to happen. 

• Squash and stretch

• Anticipation

• Follow through and overlapping action

When applied, keep the focus on what's important within the scene, and keep the motion of everything else of non-importance to a minimum.

• Follow through and overlapping action

• Secondary action

• Staging

These are the two ways to handle drawing animation: frame-by-frame from start to finish or you draw the beginning frame, the end frame, and a few key frames in-between; then you go back and complete the rest.

• Slow in and slow out

• Straight ahead action and pose to pose

• Timing

When objects come to a standstill after being in motion, different parts of the object will stop at different rates. But not everything on an object will move at the same rate.

• Follow through and overlapping action

• Slow in and slow out

• Secondary action

• This effect is achieved by adding more frames at the beginning and end of an action sequence.

• Timing

• Slow in and slow out

• Straight ahead action and pose to pose

When working in animation, it's best to stick with the laws of physics. Most objects should reflect that.

• Arcs

• Timing

• Appeal

When applied, supports or emphasizes the main action going on within a scene.

• 1. Follow through and overlapping action

• Staging

• Secondary action

When applied, the characters, objects, and the world in which they live need to have an easy-to-read design, solid drawing, and a personality

• 1. Follow through and overlapping action

• Staging

• Appeal

When applied, allows you to control the mood and the reaction of your characters and objects.

• Arcs

• Timing

• Appeal